if you're interested in being inundated with photographs...

head on over to facebook, and you can see the general celebrating and jocularity that we had today for baby BJ's birthday!

i've run out of excuses, reasons and justifications...

if it weren't for my unexpected fore site in pre-uploading all the nativity posts last December, my blog would be sparse, indeed!

with the arrival of a frost this morning (and right on time, according to our preacher) the garden can almost be declared officially done.

however, the work cannot quite be declared done.

but we're getting there.

there are still plants, row covers and bulbs to pull and store or compost.

we still need to plant garlic.

and the high tunnel needs to be cleaned out, tilled and re-planted. as do the cold frames.

we still need to dig potatoes- white and sweet.

there are still peppers to process.

and a few scraggly chickens to butcher. (the old laying hens are not earning their keep- by any stretch of the imagination. and the new flock is still some weeks away from beginning to lay.)

and turkeys to butcher on the 23 of November. (fresh turkey for Thanksgiving, anyone? )

and don't forget the 2 pigs. they will be ready to butcher in December.

but the pace is definitely slowing down.

there is time to snuggle with the girls in the morning, time to linger over coffee, time to read books and wander to the playground. even time to clean and do laundry!

i, for one, am glad for the slower pace. it was a full and busy summer- and we sure learned alot! at our peak, we had 7 families for our CSA. i also was a grower/seller for the weekly farmer's market, and did tolerably well there, also. we sold over 120 chickens, with 7 turkeys pre-ordered for Thanksgiving.

it was about late July/early August that the garden reached its peak, and it truly took all 8 families to keep up with the relentless produce! there were days and weeks in a row where i was overwhelmed with all the produce to freeze or can for our family.

but our pantry and freezers are full, and despite the hard work that never seemed to end, we plan to continue and expand for next year.

this winter will be spend reading, researching and planning. we have lots of resources lined up, and even though i was just as weary as every one else, I'm looking forward with anticipation and growing excitement to next year's growing season.

i guess you can say I've officially got the disease.

farming !

whatever happened to that sporadic blogger, anyway?

i figured since I'm starting to get e-mails, phone calls and other frantic inquiries from people that i know in real life, i better at least post something up here, so my hundreds of faithful readers MIL won't wonder if I'm sick or dead.

ever since M and N went to college and G started school again, I've lost a bunch of people to boss around help out, it seems as if I'm too busy to post about my exciting life.

but- i haven't forgotten about all of you, my dear and faithful readers, and i have a few posts up my sleeve that I'd like to share with you.

soon.

but until then- here's a sneak preview of coming attractions:

* the final Livestock and Garden Report for 2009

* chores and the getting of them done (happily)

* my first ever giveaway!

* a quilting tutorial

* another quilting tutorial

* more pictures from our trip to SC

* general profound ramblings about evangelical Anabaptists

* another giveaway that i'll be participating in at weareTHATfamily

* a new feature of my blog: QUILT gallery

so- since nap time is officially over, and can not be stretched out any longer (and believe me, I've tried!) i need to get off the computer.

but I'll try to be back soon.

promise!

the best gift of all!

when A recently turned 3, we didn't want to lavish her with tons of presents. balance that with desiring to tangibly show your little one how much you care, and it can be a delicate harmony to achieve.

M came up with the perfect solution: a coupon book! M cleverly fashioned a coupon book out of index cards for A: 6 perforated paper promises for a trip to the playground!



(and of course, B was welcome to come along!)

the girls (all 3!) had fun at the playground each time they went. and A can look back with happy memories to remember that her big sister gave her the present that really means the most: time!

the conclusion of the celebrating!

along with A's 3rd birthday, we also celebrated the conclusion of N's high school career. since A was/is really too little to mind, N chose the menu for the night- maple mustard chicken, creamed carrots and sweet potatoes.

for dessert he chose strawberry cake with cream cheese icing. can't beat that!

we gave him a nice card, and...






a quilt! he's been dropping subtle blatant hints for a couple years now that this was the quilt and colors that he wanted. and as you can see, he's really happy with it!



soon he'll be off to college (along with his sister) and it's our prayer and sincere desire that he continues to grow into the man God would have him to be.

it's just the start of celebrating!

a few weeks ago, A turned a whopping 3 years old. we don't know when that happened- it kind of just snuck up on us! B was happy to help make the cupcakes lick the icing off the beater.

A requested cupcakes with orange icing and M&M's on top.

she's so happy/shy that we're singing to her, that she's holding onto her favorite brother for reassurance and support.

but she also wants to make sure that her baby sister is included in the happiness.

A blows out her candles, while B puffs gently from her seat, just to make sure the candles all go out!

G helps her hold up three fingers: it's the first time A shows us that she's 3!

a big box of yummy flavored smelling bubble bath- all the way from Florida.

M gave A a little extra present- a very creative and thoughtful book. (more on that another day)

even though we all went together to get A a rather LARGE birthday gift, Dave couldn't resist buying something special for his A B.

a tool belt! right away she tries it on, and she's ready to go out and help daddy.

but here's the highlight of the evening: a kitchen set! from the happy looks on those two sweet little faces, it looks like we'll have many hours of happy play.

and best of all, the kitchen is big enough for two little cooks! (and that's a very good thing, since one of my dear little chefs is not too good at sharing!)

as wonderful as this family evening was, we were only halfway done with the celebrating. we still had another milestone to recognize~ and I'll tell you more about that next week!

a preview of coming attractions:

it's been so busy around here, that even though there are several things I'd like to tell you about, (with pictures to accompany) I've not had the time to sit down and upload or type.

but when I've got a moment, here's what's coming:

* we celebrated a birthday

* and a graduation

* there's a new business venture afoot

* the siding is almost done

* a creative birthday present

and especially for my local readers:

* I'll be teaching a quilting class at the Ben Franklin if you'd like to come

last week in review... in no particular order

last week was exceptionally busy, much more than usual it seemed. here's a brief re-cap of the highlights, and an overview of all the things that we got done.

Dave celebrated his birthday on Saturday. not quite a milestone, but nearly so. the girls helped me make his cake and the icing- chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. and of course, they were more than happy to help blow out the candles.

besides the 9 (nine) cases of mountain dew he received,and 2 magazine subscriptions, i made him this wall hanging. in case you can't read what it says: "hands to work ~ heart to God"

G and i worked on the pathway from where we park to the back porch (mud room) door. some of the rocks were very large and heavy, so we were glad to have the tractor to help with that part of the job.

A and B came out to help after their nap. there are still a few more rocks that I'd like to place, but that will have to wait a few more days. next we'll be working on the pathway from the parking area to the front door. we have an old barn foundation that we can get some more really cool rocks from.

i just love cool rocks, and sometimes i wonder why i didn't grow up to be a geologist!

right where the tractor is parked is where the 2 evergreen trees were until just a few weeks ago. this is where we plan on putting the orchard. we also laid out where we are going to put the apple and peach trees, and G started digging the holes.

Dave and both boys worked hard this week clearing this portion of the hillside. it was formerly covered with dried weeds, brush and wood, as well as a trash pile. (which G and i burned 2 weeks ago.) this hillside will come up all in naturalized (orange) day lillies, so the pressure was on to get it cleaned off in time for the new spring growth, which you can see has already begun.

they also continued the cleanup well to the left of this picture. the plan is to pasture the new pigs in that area. I'll keep you posted on that.

although this is not the greatest picture (it's actually a picture of a photocopy of a picture) this is what our house looked like in 1930. if you look closely, you can see in the lower left hand corner some stems of day lillies getting ready to bloom. while we are not deluding ourselves that we can afford to restore this wonderful old house to its former glory, we are hoping for a reasonable compromise!

i already told you about the cold frames that G built for me. I'm very pleased with them, and already have them filled with pig manure and dirt. i have been excitedly monitoring the temperature inside, and was thrilled to observe that so far, it's been warming up to 84 degrees, and holding a mild temperature of 50 degrees inside at night. we'll see how it continues to do as some of the nights can still get quite chilly. the high tunnel is now over part of the garden, and filled with a wonderful mixture of hay and manure that i hauled over from a farmer friend. Dave will soon cover it with plastic. after the high tunnel has a chance to warm up, and its been tilled, we'll be able to plant our tomatoes in there!

both the broccoli and cauliflower are up. I'm thinking that this will be a gigantic amount of both, so I've started collecting recipes that i think my family will eat. of course we'll freeze alot, and i hope to have some to sell. i also plan on plating a second crop of broccoli and cauliflower, either in July, or later in the high tunnel when the tomatoes are done. these crops will go in the lower garden, and even though I'll be planting either side of the rows with marigolds, there is no guarantee that i will actually harvest any of these plants!

we also bought another greenhouse. (it was the last one that Lowe's had!) there are still many seeds to plant, and it was obvious that we didn't have enough room. the second greenhouse has grow lights, but the "heater" is just a 100 watt bulb on the bottom shelf.

the pigs are getting ginormous, and in fact are not long for this world. while they are certainly not wild or mean, they are very large and aggressive. i was a little hesitant to jump in there with them to measure their girth and length to see how much they might weigh. maybe later this week i can bribe G to do that for me...

meanwhile, i plan on moving them twice a day, instead of just once as we have been doing. that's because i don't have anything better to do than pull my pigs all over the field with the tractor. *ahem* actually, i would like to have them root up as much of that lower garden as they can before we haul them off the the butchers on April 13th.

after such a busy week, i had promised the kids that we would have a campfire on Sunday afternoon. so after naps were over, G and i bundled up A and B, loaded up the wagon with our supplies and headed down to the campfire ring.

N had a nice fire going, and we enjoyed a relaxing time, filled with hot dogs, smoke, lots of chocolate, graham crackers and copious amounts of marshmallows.

now we feel relaxed and refreshed, and ready for another busy week!

there is no snow in the forecast today!

although it does not seem remotely possible, today is G's 16th birthday! several years ago i was able to *finally* finish his baby book, and of all the children he has the best birth story, hands down! today i'd like to share it with you.

we had planned to have a home birth, but the baby (and the weather) had other plans! i woke up that morning in labor, in the midst of a huge snowstorm. (which later came to be known as the Blizzard of '93) we quickly came to realize that we would not be able to get to our midwife, Mary, nor would she be able to get to us. Dad called the emergency dispatch center of Union County, just to make them aware of our situation. they sent us a frantic, sweaty and nervous EMT on a snowmobile. one of the first things that he said to me was to ask if i thought that i would have the baby soon, and he blurted out that he had never delivered a baby before, he had only read about it in a book! i ended up reassuring him that should it become necessary for him to deliver the baby, i was confident that he would do fine. (actually, not really, but what was i supposed to say?) my labor ended up stopping for a while , so while i took a nap, he played Candyland with M. eventually, Dr. Ward, a retired doctor from a nearby town, came out to the house. after checking me, Dr. Ward informed me that i wasn't even in labor! anyway...my labor did progress, and it was time for us to head to the hospital. normally, our road was one of the last in the township to be plowed, but that March 14 we were the first to be cleaned off! the ambulance came, and more frantic EMT's came down the driveway. before i could let them in, i had to haul off Jake (our dog) who was ready to defend me to the death, barking his head off and lunging at the door. (and this was in spite of several painful contractions!) after coming in the door, the EMT's indicated that they expected to carry me up the driveway in a stretcher! yea, right! no thanks. i walked up on my own, stopping to breathe several times as i had even more contractions. finally, i was in the ambulance, and fairly settled. the ambulance followed the snowplow, and dad followed along behind in the mini-van with M, D and N. it was a very slow and bumpy trip, but we finally made it in to the hospital. Dad took the children to a friend's house, and Mrs. Hied watched them for us for a while. we had called Dr. Brown, to let him know i was in labor, and to see if he was willing to come into the hospital to deliver the baby. (he was, even though we had caught him in the middle of a bath!) i went upstairs to L&D, and was worried that dad, who was downstairs filling out paperwork, and Dr. Brown, who had to stop off at his office for my records, would not make it in time. having a baby will wait for no one, and it came time for the baby to be born. dad did get through the mountain of paperwork in time, and Dr. Brown came skidding in at the last minute, still in his coveralls, and barely managed to catch G as he was born! Dr. Brown said "it's a boy!" and even though i had been sure that this baby was a girl, and was really looking forward to another daughter, i remember thinking- oh boy, I'm so glad that it's a boy! i wasn't even disappointed for 1/3 of a second. however, it did take several days to convince the children that the baby was a boy, and his name was not Rebecca! then they thought that his name was Donald Duck, but by the time he was a week old, we had it all straightened out and everyone was calling him G.

after the hub-bub of getting to the hospital, my stay there was fairly uneventful. most of the nurses had been on duty for 3+ days, as most of the other nurses could not get to the hospital to relive them. somehow Dr. Ward came to the hospital, i think to do rounds for another doctor, and when i saw him in the nursery, i refrained from asking him if he still thought i wasn't' in labor! we did not have any visitors, as it was still impossible to travel for several more days. the children came to gramma's house, so dad was able to walk them over for a little visit to see their new baby brother.

soon, we were able to go home, and on the way, dad drove around town, so i could see all the snow that we had gotten. it was amazing, and to think that i had missed it all since i was so busy having a baby!

interestingly enough, there still persists one of those local urban legends, which says that i rode to the hospital on the back of a snowmobile. (while in labor, no less!) of course, that is not true, but even today i will encounter that bizarre fact in casual conversations, and try to tell briefly of story of the day that G joined our family.

the whole crowd, just a few months later. M is 4 1/2 D and N are 3, and G is 8 months old.

in the blink of an eye!

exactly one year ago yesterday, little B J joined our family, making it an even 3 boys and 3 girls. what a blessing this pleasant, blue eyed baby has been, and we are so thankful for the joy and laughter that she has brought into our lives. every day she is growing up, and while i enjoy watching her, i am sad that each little baby milestone will be our last. so i resolve to treasure the little moments, and take time to rock this precious little girl to sleep, and play patty cake, and read piles of board books, and take her outside to see all the animals. but most of all, i will hug her tight, and tell her how much i love her, and cover her sweet little baby face with kisses from mama.

here B has her own little birthday cake. she did very well with the candle, and even blew it out all by herself! I've never known a little one to do that before! it was so cute that i re-lit the candle several times, just so she could blow it out! and she loved that we sang to her over and over!

she was very timid about eating her cake. daddy helped her, and she really liked the strawberry with cream cheese icing!

now she's starting to really dig in!

Dave and i gave her a little cabbage patch doll named Donna. B really seems to like it, and held it close, and was patting the dolly on the back!

A gave her sister a ball. I'm not sure who liked it more- A or B!

N and G gave B a little rolly chime thing. B liked that as well, although she's still not walking.

M had left a very cute puzzle for B- a wooden farm animals. B really liked that, too, and tried to put the puzzle back together.

and here we have the icing on the cake- just what every mother wants her one year old baby to have- a BB gun! this is Dave's special present to B. (just like the one he got for A when she turned one!)

here is my happy hunting crew! A already talks about shooting things, and eating them. her daddy is training her well!

B is playing with her puzzle.

it's hard to be the little kid with no birthday presents to open! A did really well, but she likes B's puzzle and dolly, and has walked around for the last day holding and nursing Donna. never mind that she has her own dolly, Charlotte! now the girls can play house together- 2 best friends!